Reflective design practice : re-thinking Pākehā participation in mātauranga Māori-based research to support positive contributions from a Pākehā positional context : an exegesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirement of the post graduate degree of Master of Design, Massey University, Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand

Abstract

In acknowledging the historical, cultural and relational Indigenous-settler contexts of Aotearoa, it is understood that in collaborative research based in mātauranga Māori, Pākehā are outsiders. Therefore Pākehā are constantly in an open state of listening and learning tīkanga, values and placed-based cultural conventions of research. By actively participating in the research, Pākehā inherit the responsibility to critically reflect on identity, positional context, world-view and understand how this affects thinking, intentions, decisions and consequences. These orientations are necessary when making an active commitment to improving participation and contribution. An invitation to participate in the project, Te Muka Taura - A site-based exploration of harakeke for dye extraction and muka colouration to advance understanding of regionally specific plant dye colourants, provided the ideal conditions for active self-reflection. The project, in partnership with Ngāti Tukorehe is a collaboration between textile researchers, Māori practitioners and scientists to advance knowledge of the colouration of muka towards sustainable textile practices (Kilford et al., 2024). Based in mātauranga Māori, the research was generated in the relationships within the group and with the natural environment, through exchanges of dialogue, knowledge and actions. Auto-ethnographic reflective practices within textile design, following the principles of Care Ethics, can develop understanding of how to make positive and effective contributions from a Pākehā positional context. ‘Reflectivity’ and ‘Deep-listening’ modes of self-inquiry seek to expose what is behind, surrounding, and in-front of any expression of self. The accumulative self-awareness accelerates accountability and unlearning of counterproductive cultural habits inherent with personal positional context. Making reflections in audio captures the emotion and tensions within self-inquiry. Audio reflections are revisited, reliving emotions and tensions, to re-reflect and develop reflections into visual representations of lessons and changes in self. Textile practices of colonial weed hand-dying and wool felting are employed to develop the drawing reflections into physical form that communicate the lessons and changes in self. Repetitive physical making facilitates the embodying of knowledge through connected learning between mind and body. Through the making, form, and materials used, the textile outputs advocate for increased awareness and conversation around work needed within the Pākehā community of researchers participating in collaborative research based in mātauranga Māori. The time and care spent developing reflections into textile forms, whilst continually reflecting on self, practice and broader contexts, embodies personal transformation to realise non-colonial ways of being, researching and practising.